He also talked about the possibility of a public demo release for Kingdom Hearts III. (Translations are courtesy of @Keytotruth.)

Q. Please tell us more about what's going to happen with KHIII. Like, are there any plans to distribute some kind of trial or demo?

Nomura: Both a trial and a demo require a lot of production work, so we don't have plans to release any. However, Japanese users will get to play it at the Tokyo Game Show.

So I hope your expectations are high to try when you get to try the new KH. This time, I'm really sorry to make you wait a little longer for the release. But now that the release date has been set, we just have to move towards it with all our strength. We will only make you wait a little bit more.

What are your thought on there not being any plans for a Kingdom Hearts III demo release? Do you think the Olympus and/or Toy Box demo will be available at other gaming conventions apart from TGS 2018? Let us know in the comments!

Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura spoke with The Verge at E3 2018 to discuss the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III. He spoke about his own confusion while writing the story for the game, the inclusion of Final Fantasy characters, his feelings towards Sora's character and the pressure he feels with Kingdom Hearts III.

Below you can find his quotes from the interview.

Regarding Kingdom Heart's complex plot“I do have a general storyline in my head. What is the most confusing is that, because there are so many characters in this storyline now, it’s hard to keep track of who actually met who already. I’m always like, 'Okay, so who knows who in this situation, and who’s meeting this person for the first time?’ And that always gets really confusing."

Regarding Final Fantasy characters“It’s a little bit difficult to add in Final Fantasy characters into the main storyline for this title. Because most of the original Kingdom Hearts characters are going to appear in Kingdom Hearts III, that’s just already too many characters to begin with. When I was writing the scenarios, I started to be confused with it as well myself. It is kind of complicated in that sense. It’s just been difficult for me to create a storyline that doesn’t involve those characters." (Note: You can read Nomura's comments on kingdom Hearts not needing Final Fantasy as much as it did before in this interview with USGamer!)

About his feelings towards the story's protagonist and antagonist"I actually don’t sympathize or empathize with Sora at all. I think I’m closer to those characters [like Xehanort, Ansem, etc.], so Sora is like my enemy. How I always think of him is I would unleash my attacks on him, and then I draw him in a way that I think he will be able to make a comeback at me. In that sense, I really think that Sora is just like an opposite personality character to who I am."

Regarding fan expectations and the pressure to meet them"The fan expectations and excitement towards Kingdom Hearts III was much more than I had expected. I actually did feel a little pressurized for the first time pretty much in my life. But the best way to get rid of feeling pressurized is to just have confidence in yourself, that what you’re making is good.

“I really have confidence in Kingdom Hearts III, that it is a good game. I was really able to get rid of that pressure that I was feeling.” (Note: Check out this picture of Nomura looking at all the awards Kingdom Hearts III received at E3 2018!)

What were your impressions of this interview? Were you shocked about Nomura's feelings towards Sora versus Xehanort? Do you agree or disagree with him? Let us know in the comments!

A brand new Kingdom Hearts III trailer debuted at Sony’s E3 Conference last night, and much like the others it was stuffed to the brim with brand new information! Let’s take a look.

Our first shot from the trailer is the same as the other recent E3 ones with the quote: “The light is gathering together hearts driven by one oath, one purpose.” It previously seemed like Kingdom Hearts III was going to be using the “Don’t assume your dreams are just fantasy” quote, but the appearance of this seems to indicate these are just for the trailers.

The first true bit of footage shows Sora, Donald and Goofy rendered in a much more realistic fashion and all sporting brand new looks. Sora looks very much like Captain Jack with a conventional pirate outfit, whilst Donald and Goofy wear shiphand uniforms complete with bandanas.

All three are extremely detailed, with Sora’s outfit in particular featuring lots of little touches like a crown emblem stitched into his hat and a cute gold tooth. He’s also sporting bare hands, which is extremely rare for him! Donald and Goofy both have realistic ruffles and fur, as well as realistic eyes which stands out quite nicely. It’s clear the development team is going for less of a stark contrast between character designs like it was in Kingdom Hearts II.

Another cute detail comes from Sora singing “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)” which was featured in both the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and film series. Speaking of music, the song we hear in the background is a brand new piece produced by Takeharu Ishimoto, which he later tweeted about. The track sounds very in line with both Kingdom Hearts and Pirates!

The next scene in the trailer introduces us to the Pirates of the Caribbean cast, as well as confirming that the game will take place during the third movie, At World's End. All of the character models in the Pirate universe look absolutely amazing, especially considering they’re all live action. Tetsuya Nomura commented on this in an interview saying that they purposefully wanted to test the power of the new generation and try doing a live action movie. Mission accomplished!

We finally get to see some gameplay from the Pirates world and it seems to incorporate a lot of ship combat, similarly to a game like Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. The HUD has changed to represent the ship being controlled, with a meter showing the ships’ health and speed taking over Sora. We also get to see that situation commands will still be present when using the ship, as evidenced by the appearance of “Tidal Wave” and “Raging Cannons”, which look like upgrading versions of the regular commands, Water Wave and Cannons.

Another interesting aspect shown from this trailer is the enemy health bars. Both the boss and the ships that Sora fights against are shown with a huge amount of health, which implies that we’ll be playing in the Pirates world a bit later in the game.

We now see Sora boarding the ship using Flowmotion, which is unclear if the player gets a choice to get it started. This is where we get our first look at the Pirates of the Caribbean Keyblade, which is designed after a ship wheel and with a skull keychain as well as emitting aztec coins when hitting enemies. The detail in Sora's Keyblade is best seen in his character render.

We then see Sora using it’s first Keyblade transformation, High Wind. We know that this Keyblade is a power form as Sora’s bandana changes colour from blue to red when using it. This transformation seems to rely on area of effect attacks and crowd control, which is especially evident when it transforms further into the Storm Flag. The power form motif is even more obvious here with the red flag. Storm Flag looks similar to High Wind, but with a bigger focus on air attacks, with Sora’s dive attack reminding me of the Jump reaction command when fighting Xaldin in Kingdom Hearts II.

Sora is then showing his ability to run up walls before attacking a Heartless that looks extremely reminiscent of the Powerwild Heartless found in Deep Jungle. The white sheen that appears on walls that can be run up still appears here. We then dive in (sorry) to some underwater gameplay for the first time. We see Sora spinning his Keyblade in the water to move and we also get to see some combat, which looks like it’ll utilise combos underwater, although whether or not they’re the same as the ones on solid ground isn’t very clear. We also get to see some new jellyfish Heartless, although with the return of the Powerwild Heartless they could be from Atlantica in the first game.

The next clip shows Sora swimming up, before a sneaky trailer cut puts him in the middle of a battle. We can tell a cut is used here as when Sora emerges from the water his Health bar changes and he loses Donald and Goofy. This battle appears to also have the goal of protecting the Black Pearl, which is now shown with a health bar of its own. Sora uses his Shotlock Flowchain to start riding a Heartless, which he then uses to get close to the boss (which also has a lot of health bars). The mix of aerial, water and land combat seems to be the theme for the Pirates world. Sora then attacks the boss when attached to him, using barrier in between attacks to protect himself. The appearance of barrier, which is typically Aqua’s protection method, might imply that Sora has encountered her, or simply learnt her technique. The gameplay section ends with Sora using his Flowmotion-like ability to ride on a rainbow road that has been created by the boss Heartless.

As has been the case with previous Kingdom Hearts III trailers, after the gameplay we get to see a good look at the story towards the end of the trailer. The first scene features Luxord, now a vessel for Xehanort, talking to Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jack Sparrow aboard the Black Pearl. Jack’s mention of the Pirate code is a direct reference to the second game, where he said the exact same thing about Luxord, which is a nice little callback. Luxord specifically mentions a black box, which Jack seems confused about, which tells us that it’s not just Maleficent and Pete looking for Back Cover’s Black Box. Is Luxord looking for it for his own gain or does Xehanort truly want it? We previously thought it was just Maleficent looking for the item, but it could have even bigger implications if Luxord is to be believed.

The next scene shows Sora, Donald and Goofy about to be attacked by the three Titans atop Mount Olympus. The fact that Sora is still in his Kingdom Hearts II outfit implies this is near the end of the visit to the world, and that this could be leading to the end boss battle. Hercules shows up just in time to join the party and help fight the Titans. We also hear Hades’ voice for the first time in English and he is indeed still voiced by James Woods.

The next scene shows a Vic the Visitor UFO kidnapping the three Aliens in the Toy Box world, whilst Sora, Buzz and Woody cry out for them to stop. This could be leading to a boss battle of sorts, but it could also be an indication to the ‘new seven hearts’ (more on that later). Elsa is seen building her ice castle and the Rapunzel is seen dancing around in Corona’s plaza after getting her hair done in two quick scenes. Curiously we still don’t hear Rapunzel speak, which could be because the English voice work isn’t quite done yet, as she does speak in the Japanese trailer.

Vanitas appears in the world of Monsters, Inc and we get to hear his voice performance by Haley Joel Osment for the first time. He sounds just like he did in Birth By Sleep, which is definitely a good thing. He talks about how “the Unversed collected enough screams and sadness from those children”, which could mean that during the events of the first Monsters, Inc film, the Unversed were collecting the negative emotions that the Monster’s were producing which would be a nice way of connecting the first film to the Kingdom Hearts universe. Mike then reacts accordingly, with Carlos Alazraqui’s voice performance being heard for the first time.We then see Larxene again who drops one of the bigger story bombshells of the trailer. Sora accuses Larxene of following Elsa who claims “Maybe she’s one of the seven pure lights we need. The new seven hearts.”. Dream Drop Distance told us that if the seven lights can’t be gathered then the seven princesses will be gathered in their place. This shows that there are now seven new hearts, and they’re not linked to being a princess or not, just a pure-hearted individual. This could be why the green Aliens from Toy Story were abducted before, and it could be why the Organisation is after characters like Elsa and Rapunzel. This is exciting for a few reasons, but the idea of each world actually taking damage like they did in the first game certainly fits the idea of this story being dark. With the removal of Aqua as one of the seven hearts of light, it would make sense for the Organisation to be chasing the seven pure lights instead to fulfill the prophecy.

Ansem and Xehanort and then seen outside Twilight Town’s mansion, telling Sora to “set your heart free”, providing him with what looks like a dark portal. Is this the way that Roxas returns, through Sora unlocking the dark? We don’t get enough detail, but with Sora’s commitment to bringing Roxas back being a central theme for Kingdom Hearts III, we might just see him do it. Xigbar (with his hair going silver now) is then seen telling Sora that his reward “might be right around the corner”. Since Sora is clearly still in Olympus, he could be referring to the power-up he seemingly receives after getting his strength back, but he’s likely hinting at something much darker.

One of the highlights of the trailer is getting to see our first look at Lea and Kairi and both of them look absolutely incredible in HD! Lea is still wearing his Organisation coat, but that’s hopefully something that’ll change later in the game. Kairi is shown in her brand new outfit that was seen previously through a Unchained X datamine, but she’s also shown here with a much shorter haircut, reminiscent of her original Kingdom Hearts look. Where in the world they are is a complete mystery, but it can be presumed they’re training still or have just finished. Nomura has also said that where they are is a location we can’t visit in the game, so it’s probably not important. Humorously, Kairi also refers to Lea as Axel again which doesn’t seem to bother him as much anymore, which might mean he’s just got used to the name. It’s a cute reference to Dream Drop Distance, even if it probably doesn’t mean much.

The trailer ends on one more bombshell by having Riku sat on Destiny Island talking to Riku Replica from Chain of Memories. Although he was presumed dead after the end of Chain of Memories, he’s seen here perfectly alive and well sitting on the beach. This means that Riku was almost definitely referring to him when he said, “In case the other me needs it” after leaving his broken Way to the Dawn Keyblade in the Realm of Darkness. How he’s come back to life is very uncertain, but it does make a good case for Roxas’ return too. Riku Replica is made up of data yet is clearly back here, and in a previous trailer Roxas’ data was discussed and said that it needed to be collected. This could be a big hint to how Roxas is (hopefully) brought back.

Another interesting detail from the trailer is that the Japanese version is labelled as "vol. 3" which is almost presenting them in a story like fashion. The Japanese trailer also shows Marluxia, and this time his eye's are yellow which indicates that he's been turned into a Xehanort Vessel too. Why this wasn't included in the first trailer is unknown, but it really shows the extent of Xehanort's plan.

Overall this was a pretty great trailer that told us a lot of new information about Kingdom Hearts III, especially in regards to the story. Watch the newest trailer here and catch with our coverage of the E3 2018 here.

Did you see anything that I missed? Let us know in the comments below!

During E3 2018, Tetsuya Nomura, the Kingdom Hearts saga director and creator, had the chance to be interviewed by GNN.com on the new chapter of the saga, Kingdom Hearts III.

You can check below for the fully translated interview (thanks greatly to @Protoplasm_png, and our KHUχ Team Leader faemarch):

Q: The Kingdom Hearts series had already reached its third main instalment; will Sora's story end here?

Nomura: Sora's story will not end here; however, this part of the story that lasted 15 years since the first instalment (KH1) that involves the fight against Xehanort will be wrapped up in KH3.Q: Kingdom Hearts III had been in production for a very long time. May I know the reason behind it?

Nomura: There are two main reasons. After the production had begun for about a year, the officials requested a change of the game engine, hence we had to start from scratch. That is one of the reasons. Another reason being there were some internal changes with the team working on the game, therefore we were unable to meet the original [intended] date of release for KH3. (Note: You can read Nomura's comments on this matter in this interview as well.)

Q: Towards the end of the new trailer, Aqua had appeared. Does that mean the other two characters from ‘Birth By Sleep’, Terra and Ventus, will make their appearance as well?

Nomura: Generally speaking, in KH3 most of the main characters from all previous instalments will make their appearance.

Q: In the trailer it appears that Aqua has signs of being affected by the darkness. Fans are very concerned about it.

Nomura: As of now we cannot reveal the reason why Aqua is now in that state. However, that does not mean there are no chances of rescuing her, for that part it depends on the hard work of the players.

Q: There are many vehicles in the new trailer, will there be more in the game?

Nomura: In KH3, Sora has many special attacks, and the transport systems are one of them. It’s just like games with theme park setting, they will always have that element. The transports are mainly for ‘attacking’ and not ‘transporting’. Different worlds will have different transport systems, for example in ‘Toy Story’ world there are robots for the player to ride on. However, in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, the pirate ship’s sole function is just transporting the player. (Note: This seems to contradict our traslations of Nomura's previous statement about the Black Pearl; also, in the trailer you can use the ship during ship battles.)

Q: Until now only a lot of Disney characters had showed up- Will there be any appearance of new ‘Final Fantasy’ characters?

Nomura: About the characters that have not showed up in the trailer, for now I cannot answer... The characters from ‘Final Fantasy’ require special care, as the characters are very unique. Hence it is difficult to portray how FF characters will communicate with the other characters in the game. However, please look forward to how the FF characters show up in the game.

Q: ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Marvel’ are under Disney branding now, so will the characters from those franchise appear in KH3?

Nomura: They are under Disney, but they are not Disney’s original work, therefore they will not make any appearances.

Q: Characters from ‘Frozen’ were announced in the recent trailer. What kind of role will they play?

Nomura: I believe that the appearance of ‘Frozen’ in KH3 had mad many fans happy as ‘Frozen’ is quite demanded among the fans. However, due to the popularity of ‘Frozen’, there are many factors/details which we have to take extra care of. The plot will be roughly the same as the movie as adding original KH elements into the ‘Frozen’ world would be difficult. We will be using the original world/story in ‘Frozen’, and add a little element from KH. Although we cannot talk about the gameplay, but basically the original parts could be in some mini-games, such as stepping on a high-flying shield and sledding across the snow [with it], etc.Q: In KH3 how many original worlds will show up?

Nomura:There are two categories for original worlds, which are ‘those that players can go to’ and ‘those that players cannot visit’. In this trailer, the place where Axel (Note: Lea...?) and Kairi spoke is a place where the players cannot go/explore. For original worlds... There are places where it will only appear for a while... Actually, there are many that will be showing up. Seems like I cannot reveal too much now.

Q: In the trailer, ‘Wreck it Ralph’ is being shown as a summon, are there any chances of it having its own world?

Nomura: For the worlds that have not been revealed so far, I cannot provide a solid answer.

Q: In the previous games, the seven princesses that represents light have a big role in the plot. In this trailer, the ‘New Seven Hearts’ is being mentioned, but no gender is specified. Is it possible that there will be any male characters?

Nomura: ...There isn’t. Because there are many factors to considerate, there are no males.

As revealed by Jonathon Thornbush today in an IGN article, Tetsuya Nomura states that dark things are in store for the heroes in Kingdom Hearts III.

Nomura talked about the story's progress in an interview for IGN at E3, offering this comment in regards to whether this new entry would be the end of Sora's story.

"I do consider Kingdom Hearts to be Sora's story. But if I go into any more details, I think I'll be spoiling the game for everyone, so I just want to leave it at that," Nomura said.

The article continues, mentioning the other various games in the series. With the theme of the latest game being, "resolution," according to Nomura, it looks like the fans of the series will be able to look forward to an ending that's full of surprises.

"There are going to be a lot of shocking scenes, especially toward the end of the game," [Nomura] said. "So I think you would definitely need to brace yourselves for them."

Many are hoping that, when it comes to the main characters, such as Sora, Riku, and Kairi, that their stories reach a satisfying conclusion. Nomura had this to say about the nature of friendships and how he wants to replicate the reality of those dynamics in Kingdom Hearts III.

"Kingdom Hearts is not too realistic, but I do want my players to grasp a sense of reality from it as well," Nomura said. "For example, I'm sure you had friends when you were young, a good group of friends, but as you grow older things change and it doesn't always stay the same. I think all I can say is please play to the very end and see what happens. But I think Kingdom Hearts 3 does depict how each character feels about each other in this new story line."

What do you think this means for the ending of Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments below!

The website Mobile01 has recently published an article containing remarks made by Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura during his visit at E3 2018.

Some of his main statements in the article include the following:

An explanation of why Kingdom Hearts III has been in production for a long time, where Nomura indicated that about a year after the game begun development, they received the company's internal decision of needing to switch the game's engine. This also allowed [T/N: in this context they probably meant "forced" or "made"] the initial/previously developed contents of the game to be dropped (but not all). Another major reason was the company's internal organization and personnel changes, which also contributed to the delay of the start of the game's development; but overall there is no delay of the game's development and production.

Fans that are new to the series can still play and understand the story of Kingdom Hearts III due to the inclusion of some key cutscenes to help better understand the premise of the story.

A recap/summary video of the story preceding Kingdom Hearts III in Japanese has been completed, and will be announced soon.

As for Frozen, since Elsa is a considerably well-known/famous character, Nomura will be incredibly cautious/attentive with her in the game. The game will largely follow the movie's original narrative and the world will be adapted to fit the game's features.

In the recently released Pirates of the Caribbean trailer, a plethora of newly-added movement mechanisms can be seen that the player can make use of. The Black Pearl's main function is to move around the world; however, it has only one application in the actual gameplay - its combat system. It does not really create a special transportation system for players to utilize otherwise. (T/N: As the text states that combat is the ship's only application, this may imply that the player doesn't use it to move around the world; it may be moving without the player's input.)

While not much can be revealed at the time, there will still be many new original worlds in Kingdom Hearts III. (This was also reported by GameInformer.)

In Kingdom Hearts III, many characters will be showing up, and Nomura wishes that the fans will look foward to it.

When asked about whether IPs such as Star Wars and The Avengers by Marvel could appear in Kingdom Hearts, Nomura said that although they both now belong to Disney, none of the characters are Disney original characters, so adding them in would be troublesome and thus unlikely.

The long awaited Kingdom Hearts III is now available for digital pre-order on the Xbox and Playstation store! Pre-ordering the game gets you a new Kingdom Hearts theme alongside a custom Keyblade skin!

Photos of the new theme and the custom Keyblade skins can be viewed below!

Kingdom Hearts III can be pre-ordered from the Playstation store for $59.99 here and the Xbox store here! Kingdom Hearts III comes out on January 29th, 2019 (North America/Europe), and January 25th, 2019 (Japan). Follow our coverage of Kingdom Hearts III at E3 and check out the latest trailer here!

In an article written by Engadget's Nick Summers, he reviewed his experience of playing Kingdom Hearts III and connecting his commentary with remarks made by Tetsuya Nomura, Kingdom Hearts series director, at E3 2018.For instance, Nomura commented on expanding the gameplay dynamics of Kingdom Hearts III to add more verticality to it.

"There are a lot of open world games. I think a lot of them just focus on trying to go bigger and bigger in a horizontal map. But when I thought about having dynamic actions, I felt that verticality should be very important to these types of games."

He also talked about the reason behind adding Attractions to Kingdom Hearts III.

"Disney theme parks are a place that everyone gets excited [about] once they step right in. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, and [many people] will have some kind of fun memory from one of those theme parks. I just wanted to recreate that in the game. I also wanted some kind of move in the game that was fun just by looking at it."

While admiring just how close the world of Toy Box seemed to be to the real one created by Pixar, Summers added in a comment Nomura made about how the development team has tried to achieve the sense of stepping right into a movie with the worlds in Kingdom Hearts III.

"And I think that's a really close to the concept that we originally had for Kingdom Hearts - which is to just immerse yourself and enter the world of Disney films. I think we were able to achieve that kind of goal that we had in mind when we first set out with the series."

Nomura also acknowledged Roxas, whose character has been often brought up in Kingdom Hearts III trailers in the scene with Xemnas and Ansem (Seeker of Darkness) in Twilight Town, both in the past and recently, and in the Square Enix E3 Showcase 2013 Trailer when Ienzo explains that Roxas's full data was needed to complete the data version of Twilight Town. Nomura said:

"Roxas is the utmost secret for Kingdom Hearts III. He's the top secret actually for Kingdom Hearts III so I really can't say anything about him."

Similar what he said to GameInformer about DLC in Kingdom Hearts III, he also said he would like to add something to make fans play it a bit longer.

"In this day and age, most major titles do have some kind of content releases after their release. So since I considered Kingdom Hearts 3 to be one of those major titles, I do want to have something to add to your enjoyment of Kingdom Hearts 3, so maybe you could continue to play a little longer than release, but we haven't really thought of anything in detail yet."

One possible DLC Nomura pointed to was the customizable outfit mechanic that was present in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-.

"We don't have any customizability that you did have in 0.2 in Kingdom Hearts 3...The development team does need some kind of extra time on their hands to be able to do something like that. Because we are so busy trying to complete Kingdom Hearts 3, we just don't have any time to do that right now. But I think there is potential to maybe do something like that after release."

In regards to the possibility of bringing the Kingdom Hearts HD ReMIXes to Xbox One, Nomura stated:

"We obviously would need to discuss with Microsoft if we are to do this or not, but we haven't even started the conversation yet. So just not at this moment."

When speaking to IGN about Kingdom Hearts III's delay, Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura also spoke about the world of Big Hero 6 and why Square Enix have not yet released any footage of San Fransokyo.

"...We pretty much have finished creating all the gameplay within that world, but we're just not finished with the cutscenes yet."

Kingdom Hearts IIIwill release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 25, 2019 in Japan, and January 29, 2019 to the rest of the world.

Are you expecting future footage of Big Hero 6 in Kingdom Hearts III before the game's release, or would you rather have more world announcements? Let us know in the comments!

In an interview with IGN, Kingdom Hearts series director Tetsuya Nomura explained that the decision behind delaying Kingdom Hearts III's release to 2019 had to do with an attempt to shorten the gap between the Japanese and Western releases while being mindful of its marketing.

"The timing of release that we were actually looking at, we were told by many people, including hardware manufacturers, marketing teams, sales teams that it just wasn't a good timing in the year."

Nomura explained that they had to consider holiday lengths and how stores behaved in different regions.

"...For Kingdom Hearts 3, the [Square Enix] western offices had requested to release the game as simultaneously as much as possible between Japan and America, so we were no longer able to just think about Japanese issues and retail situations."

Nevertheless, Nomura and the team still attempted to avoid a delay, but found out they were just not in the position to.

"We of course considered maybe speeding up development to release earlier than when we were told wasn't good, but the development team said that 'No, we just couldn't do that. We could delay it, but we couldn't make it any sooner.'"

Despite the delay, Nomura pointed to the advantage of having a little more time to refine the game before its release.

Kingdom Hearts All-in-One Bundle was announced at the 2018 E3 Sony Press Conference. The bundle will include:

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Kingdom Hearts III (available Jan. 29, 2019)

The bundle is a PS4 exclusive and available now for pre-order for 99.99 USD. If pre-ordered now, 1.5 + 2.5, and 2.8 will be available instantly. The pre-order will include the Kingdom Hearts III Impossible Odds Theme and a custom PS4 DLC Keyblade for Kingdom Hearts III.

Japan is also receiving a physical version of the bundle that includes pre-order bonuses that depend on which retailer they are bought from.

In a recent interview with Game Informer's Kimberly Wallace, Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura discusses the idea for DLC along with Ratatouille and the recent Aqua reveal.

You can read snippets from the interview below.

When asked about Final Fantasy character appeaing in Kingdom Hearts III trailersNomura: “I can’t really talk about any of the characters that have not been announced or shown yet, but just looking at Kingdom Hearts 1 compared to when that was released, there’s so many different titles with Final Fantasy characters or where all of these characters come together. I don’t feel that much of necessity of bringing these characters together like I did before. However, if you could look forward to information in the future, that would be great.”

When asked about his reaction to Aqua's revealNomura: “We had that scene with Aqua in that announcement of Frozen, and I was actually just surprised that there was the same or more buzz surrounding Aqua because Frozen was supposed to be the big reveal. I was just surprised when people were surprised she had fallen to the darkness. I, of course, know the entirety of the storyline, so in fact, there are more surprises and some even bigger than that. I just wonder if everyone will be okay.”

When asked about the Gummi ship levelsNomura: "We will have new features with the Gummi Ship, we just haven’t disclosed yet. What you saw yesterday, we just wanted to confirmed it exists."

When asked about playing as a second characterNomura: "There will be some times in the game where you’re able to control characters other than Sora, but I just won’t say which character at this moment."

Nomura gave some clarification about Ratatouille, stating that it's a "mini-game". The object is to find ingredients hidden throughout the game and bring them back to Remy to make a full-cooked meal. If the player succeeds, they will receive a temporary status upgrade; otherwise, nothing happens.

He added that there will be a lot of mini-games in Kingdom Hearts III.

“I do want to look into potentially releasing DLC after [launch], but nothing have been solidified or decided on what we want to do or what we will do. I don’t think I’ll ever really release a season pass of sorts either, because I’m not fond of that model.I want people to continue to enjoy playing Kingdom Hearts III after release. I actually also think that not many bigger titles nowadays release and just leave it at that. don’t want to follow along with them, but I want to create something that the fans will enjoy even after release.

[In regards to DLC after KHIII's release] I have no idea what it would be or might be. Nothing has been decided."

He gave reassurance that Big Hero 6 is still coming, even though no gameplay footage has been shown yet.

He also confirmed that some original worlds from previous games will return along with new ones.

"We don’t have many left [to announce], but we do have some [worlds] left, including our original worlds."

He also talked about the Pirates of the Caribbean world return to Kingdom Hearts III, and mentioned the interesting gameplay elements it will bringing forward to the players, such as ship battles and underwater excursions.

“For Kingdom Hearts III, I wanted to do at least one live-action movie. That’s because this is our first full-volume title on the current generation console, so I wanted to test our limits in how real we can make it.”

What do you think of this interview? What DLCs do you want for Kingdom Hearts III? Let us know in the comments below!

Renders for new Disney characters like Elsa, Anna, Captain Jack Sparrow, were included. These new renders also give us a look at Sora, Donald and Goofy in all of their new pirate outfits. The high quality renders give us a much better look at the characters and how detailed they will be.

In the latest Kingdom Hearts III trailer from the Sony Playstation Showcase, it was revealed Pirates of the Caribbean will be making a return to the series.

The trailer revealed Sora, Donald, and Goofy's new pirate outfits along with Sora's new Keyblade. Also in the trailer was many of the characters from the films including Captain Jack Sparrow, William Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and more. A returning Organization XIII members return to this world, Luxord, asking for the box that Luxu was dragging in Kingdom Hearts x Back Cover. Some gameplay was shown including deep sea diving and ship battles.

Kingdom Hearts III pre-order bonuses on the Playstation Store have been revealed. If you digitally pre-order Kingdom Hearts III, you will recieve the "Impossible Odds" and "Star Seeker Variant" Themes. You will receive them after check out.

Will you be pre-ordering Kingdom Hearts III? If yes, what edition? Let us know!

A Kingdom Hearts All-In-One Package is now available to pre-order for $99.99 at the US PlayStation Store! The digital bundle will include all the PlayStation 4 rleases for Kingdom Hearts with a Kingdom Hearts III theme and Keyblade; it will release on January 29, 2019.

UPDATE [Jun 11, 2018]: This bundle is also available to pre-order at the Japan PlayStation Store for 16,848 yen, releasing January 25, 2019.

A full description follows:

Digital Pre-order Details:Pre-order and receive a bonus after checking out:

CANCELLATIONS AND REFUNDS ARE NOT AVAILABLE EXCEPT WHERE REQUIRED BY LAW.

In an effort to stop another Keyblade war, Sora, Donald and Goofy set off on a new journey to fend off the encroaching darkness.

The story of KINGDOM HEARTS unfolds across many Disney worlds, featuring many famous Disney characters. In the final instalment in the Xehanort saga, KINGDOM HEARTS III, all-new awe-inspiring Pixar worlds are added into the mix.

The release of avatar boards based on Kairi and Sora's Kingdom Hearts III designs offers another look at Kairi's new design:

In both the International and Japanese versions of Kingdom Hearts Union χ[cross], players can obtain these boards for 2500 Jewels each until June 22nd at 23:59 PT for the international version and June 25th at 23:59 JST for the Japanese version.

Further details of today's update for the international version of Union χ[cross] can be viewed here.

At the live Sony E3 showcase, a limited Kingdom Hearts III PlayStation 4 Pro was revealed! It will come as a bundle including a copy of the game.Pre-orders are open for 58,082 yen fans for Japan via a lottery system. It will release in Japan on January 25, 2019.

During the live Sony E3 showcase, a new Kingdom Hearts III trailer was revealed! The trailer features more footage of gameplay and characters, alongside the reveal of Pirates of The Caribbean returning as a Disney world!

Square Enix has confirmed that it is doing its annual E3 livestream, Square Enix Presents. It will be starting at 10 AM on June 12 -14th. Kingdom Hearts Union Cross and Kingdom Hearts III will be featured on June 14th at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM PDT respectively. The livestream will be on Youtube, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter and Mixer.

New renders of Sora, Donald, and Goofy from Kingdom Hearts III were first shown back in May at the Kingdom Hearts III Premiere event. Recently, they have surfaced as part of promotional pictures on the Microsoft and PlayStation websites. The Microsoft website shows off the renders at a higher definition, and includes a new background with Riku and Mickey's Kingdom Hearts III renders.

You can see them below.

The Microsoft website also features the following extract from its interesting blurb for the game:

Having learned that all their struggles thus far were engineered by Master Xehanort in his plot to start another Keyblade War, Sora and his friends continue their search for seven guardians of light capable of standing against the coming darkness. King Mickey and Riku seek out Keyblade veterans from the past, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy begin a new odyssey across Disney worlds to claim the "power of waking."

The Kingdom Hearts official website also features a header with the recent renders for Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Square Enix Store North America has opened pre-orders for Sora's new "Shooting Star" Keyblade and Riku's new "Braveheart" Keyblade keychains. Both keychains are available for $17.99 and are slated to release in January 2019. An exact day has not been specified. No word on a European release as of this writing.

Are you interested in the keychains? What other KH3 merchandise are you excited for or want? Let us know in the comments below!